New Delhi Steel majors have accused country's biggest iron ore producer NMDC of charging higher prices for ore while exporting at a lower rate and said the “anomaly in pricing mechanism” of the state-run company would lead to higher steel imports.

Steel producers said ore prices have come down globally to USD 133 at present from USD 177 a tonne in June last year but NMDC is hiking domestic prices due to anomaly in its pricing mechanism, a charge denied by the state-run company.

The domestic steel industry, reeling under high input costs, dipping domestic demand and rising interest rates has demanded that the government expressly place steel on the negative list in the Com

The Odisha government has refused to abide by a clause of the Mineral Concession Rule (MCR), 1960, dealing with royalty charges on minerals, citing certain flaws in it.

According to Rule 64 B, sub-rule (1) of the MCR Rule 1960, the states can charge royalty on the minerals that has been processed within the leasehold area of a particular mine. But the Odisha government wants to collect royalty on the basis of mineral produced and not after it is processed within the mining lease area.

The IL&FS-led consortium’s move sparks hopes of a revival in lending to large mining projects

Private sector steel manufacturer, Essar Steel has commissioned a 19 MW heat recovery power plant at its Hazira unit of Gujarat, which is likely to reduce the power cost of the company.

The iron and steel sector is non-transparent, non-compliant with weak environmental norms and is getting away with it because of an even weaker regulatory framework

When the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) started its Green Rating Project in the mid-1990s, India had just liberalised its economy. There were fears that it would be disastrous if the country took the route to economic growth that ignored environmental considerations. The Green Rating Project was designed to find ways of measuring the environmental performance of companies and to drive changes in policy and practice through public disclosure.

Indian steel companies are getting away with causing grave damage to the environment.

Steel major Essar Steel Ltd (ESL) has received the CSE's Green Rating Award for its efforts towards resource use efficiency and steel slag re-use.

Better regulation of the sector is needed

The environmental performance of the Indian iron and steel industry is poor, according to the latest indices released by the Green Rating Project of the Centre for Science and Environment. On a scale of 10 (the theoretical best), the global best practitioners score eight, while the Indian leaders score only two. The steel industry, if it chooses to ignore this index, will be an outlier.

RINL along with two other companies (Ispat Industries and Essar Steel) bagged the prestigious award with "3 Leaves rating" out of 5 leaves.